U.S. Staff Sgt. Robert Bales will be charged with seventeen counts of murder (NYT) today over an attack on Afghan civilians in southern Kandahar province on March 11, U.S. officials said. The attack came on the heels of public protests and killings over the burning of Qurans at a U.S.-run NATO air base, further compounding a troubled U.S-Afghan partnership and U.S. efforts to negotiate an exit from the decade-old war. Bales's attorney has claimed his client suffers from "mental problems" and does not remember many of the details of the March 11 incident.

Analysis

"The rapid exclusion of Afghans from the process of trying the accused shooter has, predictably and understandably, exacerbated the growing anti-American anger in that country. It is hard to imagine any nation on the planet reacting any other way to being denied the ability to try suspects over crimes that take place on its soil," writes Glenn Greenwald for the Guardian.

"In a sense, none of these facts matter. It shouldn't be hard to see the bright line between war fatigue, or P.T.S.D., or whatever name you give it, and hunting down, shooting, and stabbing little children in their homes, and women and men, burning their bodies, and then returning to base and demanding a lawyer," writes the New Yorker's George Packer.

"Forget about President Obama expediting U.S. troop withdrawals from Afghanistan this year. It matters not that some American soldiers are coming apart at the seams, killing innocent Afghans, and burning Qurans, or that President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan screams to restrict U.S. operations," writes CFR's Leslie H. Gelb for theDaily Beast.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousef Raza Gilani will meet with U.S. President Barack Obama on the sidelines of an international nuclear summit in Seoul next week, a Pakistani official said. The meeting, which has not been confirmed by the United States, would constitute the highest-level U.S.-Pakistani talks (AFP) since U.S. troops killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan last year.

Pakistan's stability is of great consequence to regional and international security. Examine the roots of its challenges, what it means for the region and the world, and explore some plausible futures for the country with this CFR Crisis Guide.

MIDDLE EAST

EU to Sanction Assad's Wife

The EU is set to sanction the British-born wife of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Asma, by imposing a travel ban and freezing her European assets (Telegraph). The sanctions are also expected to target Assad's mother, sister, and sister-in-law in an effort to further pressure the regime over its deadly year-long crackdown on opposition forces.

As the government of the brittle, one-party Syrian state remains dug in against a determined but fractured opposition, expert Joshua Landis discusses the fault lines in the Syria uprising in this CFR Interview.

Tuareg rebels in northern Mali advanced south, exploiting uncertainty within the government armed forces (Reuters) following a military coup that deposed President Amadou Toumani Toure. In the capital of Bamako, the mutinous soldiers moved to arrest the president, whose whereabouts are unknown.

NIGERIA: South Africa, Angola, and Nigeria jointly endorsed Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to be the next president of the World Bank (BBC), a post that has traditionally been held by an American. The deadline for nominations is today, and the United States has yet to put forward a candidate.

EUROPE

EU Proposes Expanded Bailout Fund

The European Commission urged EU member states to expand the eurozone firewall by combining the continent's temporary and permanent bailout funds to create a permanent $1.24 trillion rescue mechanism (WSJ), a move expected to face resistance from Germany.

The eurozone, once seen as a crowning achievement in the decades-long path of European integration, is buffeted by a sovereign debt crisis of nations whose membership in the currency union has been poorly policed, explains this CFR Backgrounder.

FRANCE: Prime Minister Francois Fillon insisted French police did not have justifiable cause to arrest Mohammed Merah (CNN) before he killed seven people, including three Jewish children. Merah, a self-proclaimed member of al-Qaeda, died yesterday following a siege by police on his Toulouse apartment.

AMERICAS

Pope Departs for Mexico

Pope Benedict XVI will arrive in Mexico today for a weekend visit, during which he will meet with President Felipe Calderon and directly address the ongoing drug violence (NPR) plaguing the country. Benedict is set to visit Cuba early next week.

soundoff(15 Responses)

George Patton

These killings should never have happened in the first place and now Stall Sgt. Robert Bales faces a possible death sentence. Let's just put the blame of this tragedy exactly where it belongs, that is, the right-wing politicians in Washington who got us into this useless war in the first place!!! When will the American public ever learn?

In every forum, you spout your imam's mantra of putting the blame on "right-wing fanatics".
In every forum, we ask you to prove your statements and all you can say "that is what my imam told me.'
Can you say anything without lying?

how about the ra pe of 2 women too!!! read and see the afganistan news and media , why you hiding the truth? if you commit the crim you must face justice in afganistan........same as it in in usa......this evil person is a cowered killing women, children and weak old people what a hero!!!!

In some tragic ways, this reminds me of that book, "None of Us Were Like This Before" – while it's a very different story (one that traces how US forces turned to torture, and devastating impact it had on the soldiers), there are nonetheless elements of this story that ring familiar. (By the way, I *highly* recommend the book.)

15 civilians died so US is mourning ? How funny , US has killed millions of Iraqi because Iraq was not ready to sale oil in exchange of US currency . US also committed genocide in vietnam . Those 15 civilian life were more valueable than millions of Iraqi people .

Ok here's what i do not understand. Although the death of any children is a tragedy beyond comparison, it would be hard to say that it was not earned by the adults. We are talking aout a society and a people that value a book more than ahuman life. I didn't see the afgan protests over the murder of US soldiers for the accidental burning of a book! Where is that outrage? Where? We are talking about a poeple and a society that values a piece of paper more than a human life, as long as that human is American. If we treated afgans or moslems in the US as they treat Americans we would have been at war decades ago with every moslem country.
1. Do not build mosques in the US the same as we cant build a church in Saudi.
2. Christians groups begin grabbing moslems, beheading them, braging aout it and posting video on the net
3. Have Americans committing acts of terrorism inside Mecca
4. If a moslems talks bad about the bible than start protesting and killing moslems in response.
You see the formula does not work if it is applied in reverse. Moslems shoul kneel down and thank the US, period.

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